Steel Mills

Cliffs Resumes HBI Plant Construction
Written by Sandy Williams
June 9, 2020
Cleveland-Cliffs will resume construction on its Hot-Briquetted Iron plant in Toledo earlier than expected. Construction was halted on March 20, 2020, due to the pandemic, but will resume with newly implemented safety measures. Cleveland-Cliffs plans to complete the HBI facility during the fourth quarter of this year.
The Tilden mine that supplies AK Steel Middletown and Dearborn will restart later this month. The mine was idled in mid-April with a restart scheduled for July. The accelerated return to operation is due to improved steel demand from AK Steel’s clients, particularly the auto sector.
“The demand for our steel, iron ore and metallics products has recovered dramatically over the past month, and in light of this, we are restarting Toledo and Tilden sooner than we originally expected,” said Cliffs Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves. “We suspended these operations in a way that allowed us to restart as easily and efficiently as possible, and that is what we will do. Our footprint is well situated to capitalize on the rapidly increasing demand from the automotive sector, which is occurring faster than our most aggressive expectations.”
Cliffs has already restarted numerous other previously idled facilities across the company, including Precision Partners, AK Tube, Mansfield Works and the Dearborn downstream facilities, including the PLTCM and the galvanizing line.

Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Mills

Nucor reports improved earnings, sales, and operating rates
Nucor reported a sharp sequential rebound in the second quarter, buoyed by improved pricing and strong shipments. But the steelmaker is bracing for a modest slowdown in the months ahead.

Cliffs confirms Cleveland furnace restart, Dearborn furnace idling
Cleveland-Cliffs is idling blast furnace, BOF shop, and continuous caster functions at its Dearborn plant, but downstream operations will remain unaffected, the company confirmed. Cliffs said its pickling line tandeom cold mill (PLTCM) and its extra wide automotive-grade galvanizing line for exposed parts will continue operations at the Dearborn, Michigan-based facility.

Nucor spot HR list price unchanged at $900/ton
Nucor maintained its weekly list price for hot-rolled (HR) coil flat this week, following a price cut the previous week.

Despite trade chaos, Barry Schneider upbeat on SDI, steel
With 30 years of experience at Steel Dynamics, Barry Schneider reflects on the company and the state of the steel industry.

Algoma Steel seeks CAD$500M in operational support
Algoma Steel applied to Canada’s federal Large Enterprise Tariff Loan (LETL) program for $500 million to support its long-term operations.